It was not until 3 in the morning that Borussia Dortmund's DFB Cup quarter-final excursion finally came to an end. Though reasonably tired, it was a happy first-team squad that got into their cars at the training centre on Adi-Preißler-Allee and drove home to hit the hay for a few hours.

The delay heading home was down to a night-time bottleneck on the streets of Stuttgart en route to the airport and the fact that Marcel Schmelzer had to wait for a doping test. "Thanks for waiting, lads", twittered the defender. Now that's what you call team spirit.

The spirit is clear to see in this team, which seems to be coming into its own this season. In the league they are heading for second place - a success no-one could have envisaged when they were propping up the table exactly a year ago. The club have now reached the cup semi-finals for the 13th time in total, and for the fourth time in the last five years.

"For the most part a step quicker than the opponent"

When Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang launched a world-class counter in the 89th minute and Henrikh Mkhitaryan was left with the task of a simple tap-in to make it 3-1, Roman Bürki ran the entire length of the pitch - a Mercedes-Benz Arena that had been left battered by torrential rainfall before and at the start of the match - to celebrate the winning goal with his team-mates. The Swiss shot-stopper, who had put in a flawless performance himself, felt a "huge sense of relief". He said: "We had chances to finish the game off sooner against a very good opponent who remained dangerous throughout. It was a real cup battle. We dealt with it well and for the most part were a step quicker than them."

Marco Reus felt the key to the success lay in the preparation for the hotly-anticipated trip to the league's most in-form team. "We were extremely well set up," he declared. The fact the game did not develop into a footballing spectacle was down to the adverse weather conditions.  The deeper the pitch became, the more "disjointed the match was. We didn't keep our structure at that point, but we should have hit them on the counter earlier and therefore made it tenser than it needed to be."

Recovery until Saturday – then comes Hannover

Though Reus (with a goal and an assist) and Aubameyang (with a goal and two assists) stood out for their performances, the effort put in by the team as a whole was incredible. Thomas Tuchel included opponents Stuttgart in his praise too, saying: "The physical performance put in by both teams is to be emphasised!"

After two matches in three days in poor pitch conditions, recovery is in order for Borussia Dortmund. Tuchel will keep the team busy without putting them under too much strain before the Hannover match.

After all, the Black and Yellows have some hectic weeks ahead. Up until the semi-final on 19 or 20 April, BVB face up to seven weeks with two matches, depending on their progress in the UEFA Europa League.

Reus waiting to see what tonight's draw has in store for BVB

It will be BVB's 13th appearance in the semi-finals. The draw for the two matches will take place tonight following the live match between Bochum and Bayern (kick-off 20:30 CET) and the summary of the match between Heidenheim and Hertha. "If I had my way, we would play every cup match at home," said Marco Reus, before adding: "But we need to wait and see what the draw has in store..."

Boris Rupert